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Asian American Discrimination in Harvard Admissions [pdf]

(public.econ.duke.edu)
376 points undefined1 | 3 comments | 25 Apr 20 00:54 UTC | HN request time: 1.675s | source
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vikramkr ◴[25 Apr 20 02:30 UTC] No.22975041[source]▶
Here's what annoys me. This analysis is showing that race-based factors are being factored into "personal ratings" and in how rec letters are being interpreted etc. Just make there be an overall admission penalty for being Asian and release the exact level of that barrier like they do for med school admissions. You can see for med schools exactly what the average GPA and MCATs needed are for white, black, Asian, Latino, etc. Stop trying to hide it in obviously discriminatory ways like lowering people's personal ratings. Just make an affirmative action penalty without perpetuating stereotypes about Asian American applicants being math-loving robots with no other well-rounded characteristics.

What annoys me even more frankly is that the burden for fixing centuries of institutional racism and discrimination apparently needs to be born by hardworking immigrants and children of immigrants, not the people that most directly benefitted from generations of injust social structures. Legacies are OK, and the percentage of students at ivy league schools from the top 1% can be sky-high, so rich wealthy white students with connections and successful parents don't have to sacrifice anything. Legacy admissions, a structure explicitly created by many schools to keep out Jewish students[0], is OK because "school spirit" and increased donations. People that benefit from generations of inequity totally deserve their spots at these schools. However, the hardworking student who's a child of immigrant parents, without connections or networks, parents working in everything from laundromats to tech jobs building generational wealth from the ground up? Students who studied hard to get good grades and do everything the admissions officers could want? No, they have to sacrifice their admissions to fix the legacy of slavery. They have to pay the price and are discriminated against compared to white folk. What a brilliant way to breed lateral violence between minorities and create a system that continues to perpetuate classism and racism while pretending that keeping out a deserving Asian student in favor of a rich white student is helping a disadvantaged black student.

[0]https://www.businessinsider.com/legacy-admissions-originally...

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crispyambulance[dead post] ◴[25 Apr 20 02:49 UTC] No.22975140[source]▶
> [Asian students] have to sacrifice their admissions to fix the legacy of slavery.

Students with straight-A gpa's, near-perfect SAT scores, violin or piano mastery and substantive internships that show impressive potential aren't "sacrificing" anything if Harvard doesn't accept them because they have insanely competitive student admissions.

There are other schools besides Harvard. There are schools that provide an elite education, prestige and major boost to student lives and careers. Harvard isn't the only one. And there are many other schools that would be glad to have such students.

I think Asian parents, and actually all parents, would do their kids a great service if they ease off on the pressure to get into Harvard and look for schools that are instead a better fit for their kids-- there's more than one.

1. vikramkr ◴[25 Apr 20 02:55 UTC] No.22975171[source]▶
And other schools that provide an elite education and prestige all also discriminate in the same way. This case isn't just about Harvard, it's about discrimination against Asians in general. Would be wonderful if the rest of the ivys, stanford, carnegie, vandy, emory, northwestern, the UCs, mich, illinois, purdue, gatech, your local state school, and so on all didn't have legacy admissions and didn't discriminate against asians. But they do. Very few schools (MIT and hopkins come to mind) with that level of prestige and ability to unlock the doors that affirmative action is supposed to equalize access to don't have legacy preference and underhanded discriminiation the way harvard does it. They're not an outlier.
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2. crispyambulance ◴[25 Apr 20 03:18 UTC] No.22975261[source]▶
Sorry, but I don't believe that top-notch Asian-American students have any trouble getting into an excellent school, unless they aim for only one in particular and assume that not getting into that particular school is a failure.

If Harvard wanted to, it could require perfect SAT scores, straight-A GPA, and whatever other concrete objective criteria it wanted and STILL have far more students applying than it can accept. They could then use a lottery to select students. But they don't do this. No school does this, even if they could.

Elite schools aim for a well rounded student body. This includes even making room for students that show promise but don't meet the usual criteria. It includes legacy admissions, it includes a number of foreign students who pay full tuition, it includes underrepresented minorities. It includes "unicorn" students of all races who have excellent academic records.

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3. slowdog ◴[25 Apr 20 03:47 UTC] No.22975373[source]▶
It’s not just about top notch students it’s about all of them. If the top can’t make it, who can?

It’s also about pushing down one race unfairly